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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#234: Time Out

Often, it feels like there aren’t enough hours in a day. We juggle dozens of warring obligations — work, home, friends, family — alongside our own wants and needs. At one time, you might back out of a friend’s birthday to visit an ailing family member. But at another, you’ll go to an important work conference rather than visiting your mother across the country. You never know how much time you have — to make your career, to follow your dreams, to spend with your family. It’s an uncertainty we all learn how to live with, one way or another.

In the spirit of this uncertainty, this week’s prompts focus on time. Who has it and who doesn’t, and who is trying to carve it out, minute by minute.

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone whose time is running out.

Angst – 112 stories

Write a story about someone who wishes they could turn back time.

Character – 70 stories

Write about someone taking advantage of some unexpected free time.

Fluff – 31 stories

Start or end your story with someone saying, “We have all the time in the world.”

Dialogue – 71 stories

Set your story in a place that’s frozen in time — literally or metaphorically.

Narrative – 56 stories

Stories

“Dr. Davies, Delaney and Death” by Myranda Marie

Submitted to Contest #234

contains adult languageAuthor's note: Read, "Della and Dr. Davies" for perspective.“You see, I don’t process death, at all. Honestly, I can’t comprehend any reason to do so, it’s inevitable, unstoppable and no matter how hard anyone tries, it cannot be defeated. Not even my second degree blackbelt can stop it with a palm-heel strike to the face, or a sidekick behind the knees. It can’t be knocked to the ground without the potential of getting back up again. It isn’t a worthy adversary, it’s a fucking ringer, strategically placed to win, no m...

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“Ginny Lives” by Aaron Wolfe

Submitted to Contest #234

The words fell like stones into the well of Harrison's reality: "rapid-onset amnesia."The sterile quiet of his doctor's office allowed the phrase to echo. He became a numb spectator to his life as the doctor told him about timelines and treatments. Everything blurred into a meaningless hum until he found himself in his apartment again.He had no particular love for his home. It was a place cluttered with the artifacts of the lives he tried to live. There was only one point of pride - a photo of his black labrador Ginny on the mantle. She smil...

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“The Divorcee's Hat Emporium” by Robert Egan

Submitted to Contest #234

Dust gathered on dust like fossil layers in the roadside hat store as a red pickup truck sent up more of the same outside. Melinda's heart rose then fell as she watched the Ford F-150 pass the skeletal remains of the old steel mill that loomed like arthritic dinosaurs over the land of the forgotten. The store's hats were in their display cases, relics in glass tombs waiting to be exhumed. All the hats' pewter pins still shone, and each hat was a Harry's original, priceless beyond measure. But the place hadn't seen so much as a single cus...

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“What’s your favourite flavour of s**t sandwich?” by Claire Trbovic

Submitted to Contest #234

The calacatta marble floor looked duller today than normal, the thin borders of gold outlining each hand cut tile felt drab somehow, like they needed a pep talk. It was early but the house was already crawling. Cleaners and gardeners moved ghost-like trying to keep out the way, every so often creeping into vision and disappearing again. I padded along the corridor to the kitchen, dropping a towel on the way in the knowledge that before I turned around it would have already been picked up. It had been 972 days since we won the EuroMillions, £...

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“Frozen Hours” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #234

It was an accident, but the ramifications were catastrophic in what became known as those frozen hours. Alright, let me explain. Let me start at the beginning. I was part of a team of archaeologists on a dig near the Cradle of Civilization which was a tricky endeavor since this area has been under siege for almost forty years. Still in the name of science, we were admitted since our team was from various countries around the globe with the intention to ferret out some deep buried secrets in this area. We did not openly r...

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“Snowbound” by Valentina Nigrinis

Submitted to Contest #234

"My flight got canceled," I say, gripping the phone tightly, trying to sound bummed. I could hardly believe my luck. Will handed me a glass of wine. I silently mouthed thank you and took a sip of a magnificent 2018 Rkatsiteli. I heard my mom gasp, "Oh no, sweetie. Is it because of bad weather?""Yeah, it started snowing again last night and will keep snowing all day." I lean back in my seat and tuck my feet under me, watching the snowflakes pass by in a flurry. The glass wall in front of me feels cold to the touch, in stark contrast to t...

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“Wherever It Drew” by Morgan Aloia

Submitted to Contest #234

Irec had never shown much interest in the circumstances of his own life. He lived well, on high in Peyr, he came from a good family. He married at a young age, just as his herbalism practice was rising to the forefront on the upper decks of the city. His wife was named Estrid, and she was not anybody he had known well before pulling her up to be courted but she had an insistent way about her and he had not needed much convincing. They had a baby, and named that baby Mepka. All the while, he followed along the pull of obligation wherever...

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“Before the Titanic” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #234

“All this rush, rush, rushing around, it is more than my head can bear”, said John Appleton, depositing their overnight bags, a newspaper, and himself, exhausted, on a bench in Boston’s South Station, and there he wiped perspiration from his brow with a crumpled kerchief. His sister, Margaret perched beside him and offered up a private prayer for small mercies, which being the cleanliness of the rag, and his temporary capitulation to exhaustion. Judged by the acerbic commentary that accompanied much of their sight-seeing, Boston ha...

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“Tick, Tock, and Goat Yoga” by Martin Marriott

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world.” “If by ‘all the time in the world’ you mean three minutes and forty-two seconds.” “Time is a human construct.” “And this construct will blow us to smithereens if you don’t defuse that bomb in the next three minutes and thirty-nine seconds.” “You stress too much. Have you considered goat yoga?” “No, Frank. I haven’t tried goat yoga.” “You should. It’s good for those wrinkle lines.” “I don’t have wrinkle lines, Frank. I have stress lines. Stress lines caused by a certain bomb disposal expert.” “I’m your fav...

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“When I Was Her Hero” by C.N. Jung

Submitted to Contest #234

Never in a father’s life is he ready for the day that he is expected to turn his daughter over to the arms of another man. Never in my life was that a moment I was prepared for. It was a moment that people joked about. “She’s gorgeous, Ledger!” My friends would tease. “Pretty soon, the boys will be knocking at the door like crazy!” “Yeah?” I’d always snorted, waving them off like they had mush for brains. Because my little girl was my little girl. She wasn’t going anywhere. She was just a baby. My baby who loved to play with Barbies and ...

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“Lost in the Bottle” by Jessica Hannon

Submitted to Contest #234

"We have all the time in the world" Miguel thinks to himself as he starts to plan a visit to his daughter online. It's 4pm and he's been drinking since 11am at least, and he is losing both interest and focus, fast. "I'll buy the tickets tomorrow!" he says as he enters 'nudes' into the search bar" Drinking is something new to him. Well, new like a second hand car is new to a different owner. Miggy, as his friends called him, was a drinker before but had put down the bottle 40 years prior after doing some time. He never thought he'd pick it ba...

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“Love, Death and Raquetball” by Scott Winkler

Submitted to Contest #234

LOVE, DEATH AND RACQUETBALLJoe’s death was long and agonizing. The disease came and went, then came again a few years later and put the squeeze on like a giant boa. Terence’s was immediate. He lost control of the car exiting the highway, hit some pylons and the car exploded. Members of the Jewish burial society had to come with body suits and gloves to search for the pieces of him which all needed to go in the casket so that when the Resurrection of the Dead comes God can put him back together intact. His was a closed casket f...

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“Only a Fragment of Time in the World” by CJ Souza

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world,” Caleb whispered those sweet words against my neck during our last moments together. I dangle my legs down over the side of the porch swing, my eyes looking down at the rotting boards below me. I give a gentle push on the ball of my foot against the floor and provoke the swing to sway me. I pull my legs to my chest and cradle myself in the rocking, like a frightened child needing safety and comfort. The pressure within my heart releases through the tears that flow down my cheeks and stop upon my neck. My...

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“1864 Arkansas” by James Moore

Submitted to Contest #234

1864 ArkansasEllen was awoken by the sound of her husband John's voice, coming up the stairs in a hushed but angry tone.“It don't mean nothing, Sarah. You'll still stay here with us. Think of us as your keepers more than your owners,” John said.“I've been hearing stories, Mister Addison, that’s all,” said Sarah.“That's just what they are, Sarah, stories. Pay no mind to them. You keep on with your work, and I'll worry about keeping this house over our heads, you hear?” John said in a tone that meant the conversation was over.Ellen got up in a...

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“Letters To The Other Side” by Jahson Clarke

Submitted to Contest #234

Entry One 8/23/2012 Time isn’t on my side these days and I don’t blame it. I wouldn’t befriend a man like me either. Red splotched tissue paper inhabited my trashcan for months. I ignored the bloody coughs and now I’m here. Alone. In a small room, with faded- -blue walls, and annoying beeps. A sixty-three-year-old man with lung cancer, approximately one week to live, and a spillage of guilt. No one to mop it up. I severed most of my relationships with family after you passed. My nephew is the only person that c...

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$250

Prize money

340

Contest entries

132

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 26, 2024 EST

Won by David Pampu 🏆

Title: 6:47 PST

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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